Numbers 36

1 The family heads of the descendants of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, one of the tribes of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the Israelite leaders, the heads of families.

And there came near the chiefs of the divisions of the family of the children of Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of Menasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph; and they spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the chiefs of the divisions of the children of Israel;

2 They said, “When the Lord ordered you, my lord, to allocate land ownership to the Israelites by lot, he also ordered you to give our brother Zelophehad's share to his daughters.

And they said, the Lord hath commanded my Lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel; and my Lord hath been commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.

3 However, if they marry men from the other tribes of Israel, their allocation would be taken away our fathers' share and added to the tribe of the men they marry. That part of our allocation would be lost to us.

And if they become the wives of any of the sons of the [other] tribes of the children of Israel: then will their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereamong they may be married; and from the lot of our inheritance will it be taken away.

4 So when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes around, their allocation would be added to the tribe into which they marry, and taken away from our fathers' tribe.”

And whenever the jubilee shall be to the children of Israel: then will their inheritance be added unto the inheritance of the tribe whereamong they may be married; and from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers will their inheritance be taken away.

5 Following what the Lord told him, Moses gave these orders to the Israelites, “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph says is right.

And Moses commanded the children of Israel by the order of the Lord, saying, the tribe of the sons of Joseph have spoken well.

6 This is what the Lord has ordered in regard to Zelophehad's daughters: They can marry anyone they want as long as they marry within a family that belongs to their father's tribe.

This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, To those who are pleasing in their eyes may they become wives; however only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they become wives.

7 No land allocation in Israel may be passed from tribe to tribe, because every Israelite is to hold onto the allocation of his father's tribe.

And the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not pass from tribe to tribe; but the children of Israel shall adhere every one to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.

And every daughter that inheriteth any possession out of any tribe of the children of Israel, shall become the wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father; in order that the children of Israel may inherit every one the inheritance of his fathers.

9 No land allocation may be passed from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe must hold onto its own allocation.”

And no inheritance shall pass from one tribe to another tribe; but the tribes of the children of Israel shall adhere, every one, to his own inheritance.

10 Zelophehad's daughters followed the Lord's orders through Moses.

Even as the Lord had commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad;

11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad's daughters, married cousins on their father's side.

And Machlah, Tirzah, and Choglah, and Milcah, and No'ah, the daughters of Zelophehad became the wives of the sons of their uncles.

12 They married within the families of the descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph, and their land allocation stayed within their father's tribe.

[To persons] of the families of the sons of Menasseh the son of Joseph did they become wives, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

13 These are the orders and regulations that the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan opposite Jericho.

These are the commandments and the ordinances, which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel, in the plain of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.